West Vancouver Rain Garden Replaces Pavement and Captures Rainwater Runoff on Busy Roadway
15th Street in West Vancouver is a major north-south connector route that links the Upper Levels Highway to Marine Drive, and is subject to heavy traffic. When the District undertook the 15th Street Reconstruction Project, the decision was made to address the highway right-of-way in four areas:
- Rehabilitate the road base and surface.
- Improve the safety of the road.
- Improve the appearance of the primary approach to the Ambleside business area from the north.
- Have a positive environmental impact.
In achieving a positive environmental impact staff were able to replace a significant amount of hard surface on 15th Street between Fulton Avenue and Clyde Avenue with landscaping as well as capture approximately fifty percent of road surface runoff originating above Esquimalt Avenue in a “rain garden” located at its intersection with 15th Street.
Road surface water is channeled into the garden through a side curb inlet where it is buffered by a gravel bed and drought resistant planting.
“It is common for no water to reach a secondary inlet at the south end of the rain garden as it is typically re-absorbed into the earth where it is treated organically, notes Brent Dozzi, Transportation Manager for the District of West Vancouver.
“The residents of the area have responded positively and the mulch was all 
recycled green waste from West Vancouver”, adds Stephen Jenkins, the District’s Environmental Protection Coordinator.
The planting in the rain garden is a combination of grasses including Blue Oat Grass, Black Mondo, Festuca Glauca and Pennesetum species. The overall appearance of the rain garden has been accentuated through the strategic placement of colored mulch and rock.
“This project has proved very success in all four areas particularly in the area of environmental impact as noted by the positive community response. The environmental component of this project has also acted as a proto-type for future projects such as the rain garden located at the intersection of Bellevue Avenue and 21st Street”, concludes Brent Dozzi.
Posted May 2007